Hanover House: Kickoff to the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

Epilogue

Two weeks later, Evelyn was packing her suitcase for her big move—she flew out the next morning—when her father came in with her mail. She'd had what was going to her post office box forwarded to a different post office entirely—and a box in his name—and asked him to pick it up for her, since she wouldn't go anywhere she'd ever been before.

"It looks like you'll be up late, if you plan to read through all of this," he said, dropping a big stack on the bed.

Evelyn sat down to sort through it. She needed the break.

Most were letters of support from other victims. A lot of those letters contained checks from people wanting to contribute to her research. Evelyn was always touched by the fact that so many people were willing to get behind a good cause—and was glad that at least a portion of the population understood the need for what she was doing.

But amongst all the letters and checks, bills and junk mail, she found a postcard of San Quentin State Prison and knew, even before she turned it over, that it was from Hugo Evanski.

Dear Dr. Talbot,

I was saddened to hear of your recent and very unfortunate experience with Jasper Moore. How interesting that he has surfaced after so long. You must be shocked—or maybe not. You, of all people, must understand just how determined a killer can be.

I can't help but admire his tenacity. But if I admire his tenacity, I also have to admire yours. Kudos on saving your own life. You're obviously very spirited—a worthy opponent.

I look forward to getting to know you better in Hilltop.

Yours truly—Hugo Evanski

HANOVER HOUSE is the prequel to Brenda's new suspense series, which will be released from St. Martin's Press beginning September 2016. You can join Evelyn Talbot and Sergeant Amarok as Hanover House opens its doors in Book #1, HER DARKEST NIGHTMARE. In the following excerpt, you will meet Anthony Garza, one of its chilling new psychopaths:

They'd had to sedate him. That was what the marshals told Evelyn. They'd said he was so difficult and dangerous, to himself and others, that the only way to get Anthony Garza safely from one place to another was to medicate him. A registered nurse at ADX Florence in Colorado where he'd been incarcerated before had administered 300 milligrams of Ryzolt four hours ago.

There was a note of it on his chart.

But the tranquilizer had worn off by the time he arrived at HH. According to the correctional officers in receiving he'd come in slightly agitated and, despite his chains and cuffs, had quickly grown violent, going so far as to head-butt an officer. At that point, someone had sounded the alarm while others wrestled him to the ground and replaced his cuffs with a straightjacket, further restricting his range of motion. Now he had four officers flanking him instead of two.

Although they stood with him in the holding cell across from her, even had to support him so he wouldn't trip on his ankle chains, he wouldn't settle down. He was raving like a lunatic, threatening to dismember anyone he came into contact with.

"I won't stay in this Godforsaken place!" he cried. "You'll all be fucked if you make me. Do you hear?"

"Should we take him to his cell?" It was Officer Whitcomb who asked. He obviously doubted she'd be able to get anything meaningful out of Garza when the man was in such a state, and she had to agree. She'd been about to suggest they take him away and give him a chance to cool off. But the second Mr. Garza realized she was on the other side of the glass, he fell silent and went still.

"Who are you?" His dark eyes shined with anger-induced madness as they riveted, hawklike, on her.

Prepared for an ugly encounter, should it go that way, Evelyn fixed a placid expression on her face. She couldn't, wouldn't show this man how unsettled he made her. If he thought he was the first to use intimidation, he was sadly mistaken. Even the sudden reversal in his behavior came as no surprise. Sometimes the men incarcerated at HH reminded her of actors in a play with how quickly and easily they could slip in and out of whatever character suited them best.

"Ah, you're coherent after all," she said. "So what have you been doing, Mr. Garza? Putting us on notice that you're no one to be messed with?"

He didn't answer the question. "Who are you?"

She put on the glasses she used to alleviate eyestrain and jotted a note on his chart. Low frustration tolerance. Possibly disorganized thinker and yet...seems more calculating than that.

Aggressive when fearful or uncertain or presented with unfamiliar stimuli—

"Hey! I asked you a question!" He half-dragged the C.O.s along with him so he could shuffle up to the glass.

The guards started to yank him back, to show him that he'd better not get out of control again. No doubt they were angry about before. One of their fellow officers had been shuttled off to medical nursing a broken nose because of Garza hitting him with his head. But, lowering her clipboard, Evelyn motioned for them to leave him be. She was here to study, not punish. That distinction was important to her own humanity. "I'm your new doctor."

"No, you're my next victim," he said. Then hemade kissing noises and smiled, revealing the jagged, broken front teeth he'dgotten from gnawing at the cinderblock wall of his last cell.